Achilles Heel
by suze-the-practical-ghost
Summary: Percy's true weak spot. OneShot.


**Disclaimer: It's Rick's.**

From a distance, Jason and Piper watched Percy Jackson and Annabeth. Annabeth was lying prone and unconscious on a cot in the infirmary, her chest rising and falling slowly. Percy was sitting in a chair next to the bed, his eyes were closed and shoulders tensed, and he was muttering under his breath in both English and Ancient Greek. He had one of her hands clasped in his two and leaned his forehead against them. The accident had happened the day before in the attack.

Lycaon and his beasts— along with a host monsters— had launched an attack on the Legion camp about a week after the Greek demigods had arrived. It was obvious that the Giants had ordered the attack, but the target was unclear at first. The battle was fierce, and replaying it in his mind, Jason became aware of just how close and in synch Annabeth and Percy. The two fought shoulder to shoulder, facing different directions. They anticipated each others next step and moved with an accord that comes from years of training with a person you completely trust. Jason had heard Percy yell "Duck!" and without hesitation, Annabeth had crouched under his wide swing that took out all enemies for 360 degrees. And a second later, they were back to hacking and slashing without breaking rhythm.

Then, there was a deadly silence. Percy was standing face to face with Lycaon himself. Jason was too preoccupied with monsters to hear the actual conversation between the two, but he did hear Lycaon's call of ceasefire. The monsters that were still alive slowly retreated behind their master and then slipped away into the darkness of the forest. Lycaon stood facing Percy, who had his sword brandished. Annabeth was right next to him with knife in hand. Lycaon had an evil sneer on his face as he taunted the hero, smiling like he had won a great victory. Annabeth was glancing around nervously like she didn't believe the fight was over. And sure enough, Lycaon said he would _leave his little friend to do the work_, and disappeared with a flash. The cry that came from Annabeth was something Jason would never forget.

Now, looking back, Jason realized that the small bug that had appeared after Lycaon was a scorpion had crawled out of the ground behind Percy and leaped with the intention of driving its stinger into the hero. What confused Jason was the fact that Annabeth had— at the exact moment the bug leaped at her boyfriend— squashed it in her hand and fallen to the ground. As she fell, she dropped the scorpion and sliced it with her knife. A moment later, Percy was on the ground hunched over Annabeth, shouting her name.

Maybe four seconds had passed and Annabeth looked deathly pale with the exception of her hand, which was oozing yellow and green. Jason and Piper had rushed over to help, but Percy was yelling for Chiron. The centaur was at his side in a moment, frantically retrieving medical supplies from his saddle bag.

"Chiron, you can heal her, can't you?" Percy pleaded, not taking his eyes off of Annabeth's face. The rising and falling of her chest was almost nonexistent.

Chiron worked quickly. "The poison is deadly, but we have caught it early enough. Do you remember—"

"Pit scorpion. Yeah, I remember." Percy said with a dark look.

The camp had become a crowd around the prone daughter of Athena. When Chiron said it was time to move her, the crowd had parted as Percy carried her limp body in his arms, but what was most frightening was the pure rage in his eyes and the hard set of his mouth. No one said a word.

That night, there had been an emergency war council with the Camp Half-Blood members (save for Annabeth) and the leaders of the Legion Camp. Percy had to be all but dragged from Annabeth's side, but Chiron said it was of the utmost importance that he be present. They had decided that as soon as Annabeth was well, they would set sail for Greece. Lupa had insisted that this was too much of a delay, but Percy was adamant that he would not leave her. There were some angry shouts from some of the Legion campers, but Jason had quieted them. "We need her," he insisted. "She's the best strategist and we'll need all the cooperation we can get." Most of the people just grumbled, but shut up nonetheless. Percy shot a silent _thank you_ to Jason, who nodded in return. The council broke and Percy returned to where he wanted to be most.

At present—the day after the invasion— Annabeth was slowly but steadily recovering, though she had yet to become conscious. Piper and Jason looked on at Percy's constant vigil, since they both had a free period in their training schedule. They had tried to talk to Percy about the reason for the attack, but he had winced and said it was the same reason as always.

"It doesn't make any sense," Piper insisted, once she and Jason were in private. "Send in an attack force, retreat, and then try to assassinate Percy— who by the way is invincible?"

Jason couldn't quite figure out the theatrics of it, but he remembered what Chiron said at the council meeting regarding Percy's situation. Jason shook his head and replied, "He's not invincible. He bears the curse of Achilles, which means he's only _mostly_ invincible."

Piper took a second to digest this. "So he has a weak spot then. But no one knows where it is. Do you think that bug could have sniffed it out?"

Jason nodded. "That's what makes the most sense. But why miss out on the opportunity to kill us all? We know Percy is one of the seven, and if they do too, why try to kill only him?"

"Maybe…" Piper said, "maybe they were trying to get rid of the peacekeepers. Like, with Percy out of the way, the other Romans wouldn't trust us?"

Jason considered this. "That's a possibility. We should tell Chiron and Lupa." Piper looked back at Percy, as did Jason. They studied him for a minute, each wondering what would have happened if the bug had been successful.

"It's a good move," Piper said suddenly. "Getting something that could find his one, mortal vulnerability. It's too bad for them that bug missed his Achilles Heel."

Jason was silent for a moment. He gazed at Percy who had the look of someone who had just realized what he could have lost. The pain in his face was undeniable and it made Jason feel cold all over. Finally, Jason looked Piper dead in the eye and said quietly, "I'm starting to think it didn't miss."

**A/N: At the moment I am being subject to a surplus of PJO/Heroes of Olympus Oneshot ideas. This 2 of 4 and they will all be posted as separate stories. Reviews are appreciated and I apologize for the false hope of my return to FF.**


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